advertisement

Hardtke free throws lift Glenbard South past Glenbard East

Leave it to a coach's son to restore order with some sound fundamentals.

Glenbard South junior guard Cade Hardtke made both ends of a 1-and-1 situation with 11.5 seconds remaining Thursday night - and that proved to be the difference as the Raiders edged host Glenbard East 47-45 in an Upstate Eight Conference thriller.

Glenbard South and Glenbard East are tied for first place in the UEC standings.

Hardtke's free throws came after the two teams had combined to miss six straight free throws in the final minute. They were his only attempts of the game and gave the Raiders (11-3, 6-1) a 47-43 cushion.

Joe Hamilton rebounded a wayward 3-point attempt and scored on a baseline jumper for Glenbard East with two seconds left, but the Rams were out of timeouts and the clock expired.

"We shoot a lot of free throws in practice, so I just feel really confident at the line," Hardtke said. "I feel like that's where I can hit shots."

So Hardtke, the son of Glenbard South coach Wade Hardtke, wasn't nervous when he was fouled after Glenbard East missed a pair of free throws that would have tied the game with 12.7 seconds left.

"I was just staying in my mindset," the younger Hardtke said. "(I) just had to stay calm and remember all those times we practice those and go up and knock them down."

Wade Hardtke, whose team has beaten Glenbard East twice this season by a combined six points, was thrilled the ball was in Cade's hands.

"He's our free-throw shooter and in that situation, to be honest, that's the guy I want there," Wade Hardtke said. "He stepped up and knocked down two big free throws."

Not many players did. The Raiders went 4 for 10 from the line while the Rams (10-5, 6-1) were just 9 for 20, missing their last four attempts.

That put a damper on an otherwise great comeback effort by Glenbard East, which erased a 13-point, third-quarter deficit with a 15-2 run. Jack Rivas, who scored 9 of his 12 points after halftime, sank a baseline jumper to tie the game at 36-36 with 5:30 left in the fourth quarter.

"You've got to give them credit," Glenbard East coach Scott Miller said. "They came outright away and took it to us.

"I told the guys we were happy. Down 13 in the third quarter, we could have rolled over, and we tied it. If we make some free throws, we've got a shot. So we've got to get better at the line."

DaRon Hall led all players with 19 points, while Cook added 9 points and 3 assists for Glenbard East.

Nick Plaso and Jacob Folkerts paced the Raiders with 13 points apiece. Both made some important shots, with Plaso sinking the go-ahead 3-pointer with 4:46 to go in the fourth period to give his team the lead for good.

Folkerts, a junior forward, came off the bench and hit a pair of turnaround jumpers from the foul line in the second quarter to give Glenbard South an early 16-6 lead, forcing a Glenbard East timeout. Both shots came off passes from Cade Hardtke, who finished with 9 points and 6 assists.

"Jake's playing really well," Cade Hardtke said. "He's a big presence for us and we get it inside and he can finish, and he can shoot it.

"Those two free-throw line jumpers in the first half were huge. They had to adjust and then that opened up more shots for us on the outside."

Those little things made the difference for the Raiders and could decide who wins the UEC title.

"It was just a gritty team effort," Wade Hardtke said. "They had us on the ropes a couple times and we were able to make a play here or there.

"It was a great high school basketball game, fun environment. Scott had his guys ready to go and they battled all the way down to the final buzzer and we were fortunate to come away with the victory."

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.